Harbinger Frigate

The Punisher is a newly commissioned ship of the Imperial Navy. The Punisher was designed specially to counter the small, fast raider frigates of The Terran Federation; thus it is different from most Imperial ships in favoring speed and maneuverability over defenses.

With the Punisher, the Empire has expanded it's tactical capabilities on the battlefield.

Service & Requisition
During initial skirmishes with Terran Federation fleets in the outer regions, Imperial vessels found themselves overpowered but slow. In a protracted full-fleet engagement, Imperial Fleets would usually eliminate the Federation vessels over time, but lose numerous peripheral and support ships due to the fast, raider-like designs of the Federation Navy. Slowly, the Empire was winning the war of territory but losing a war of attrition. The idea was similar to urban terrestrial warfare hundreds of years ago, where large overwhelming forces could "take" a city, but would be slowly bled to death by raids and ambushes from well-entrenched, highly-mobile strike forces. The Empire sought an alternative method of dealing with this problem, and commissioned the Punisher Frigate.

The Punisher bears the distinctive traits of most Imperial Forgeworks vessels, with a golden sheen and sweeping curved lines. The Punisher is extremely fast and heavily shielded on the front and sides. It is most vulnerable on the ventral and dorsal hull (top and bottom) but it is rarely possible to approach it from this vector due to it's high maneuverability and next-generation sensor suite. The crew requirements are also exceptionally low, and redundant propulsion systems make it much more likely to cripple the vessel than destroy it. In most cases, a heavily-damaged Punisher will activate backup engines before their primary engines are disabled, giving it an extra boost of speed to escape the battle and fight another day. Activating both engine sets simultaneously will cause systemic hairline hull fracturing, rendering the ship extremely vulnerable to concussive blasts after several minutes of operation. By this time, however, the ship will likely be well out of harm's way.

Access to the Punisher Frigate outside of the Imperial Navy is obviously impossible, but it can be commissioned by members of the Nobility at a cost of Φ11,159,500. A minimum rank of Knight is required to request the vessel from Imperial High Command.

Statistics
Cost: Φ 11,159,500

Length: 65 meters

Detailed Crew: 5 Bridge Officers, 10 Staff Officers, 20 Enlisted, 5 Technicians (total 40 appx.)

Weaponry: Six Auror-class 15 megawatt tachyon pulse cannons (four forward, one starboard, one port), Two Tiber-class integrated tungsten-fissile hybrid missile launchers (one ventral 360, one dorsal 360)

Top Impulse Speed: 950 m/s